District 11 South, Division 2, Flotilla 9

During the 1830s Dana Point was known as Capistrano Bay and was a frequent stopping place for merchantmen trading Boston-made goods for cowhides with the Spanish mission at San Juan Capistrano. In his book "Two Years Before the Mast", Richard Henry Dana identifies the mission as San Juan "Campistrano".

In those days, no developed harbor existed, just good anchoring ground that was fairly well protected from the prevailing seas.

Dana describes the area as follows:  "San Juan is the only romantic spot in California. The country here is high table land, running boldly to the shore, and breaking off in a steep hill, at the foot of which the waters of the Pacific are constantly dashing. For several miles, the water washes the very base of the hill, or breaks upon ledges and fragments of rocks which run out into the sea. Just where we landed was a small cove (now the west basin of Dana Point Harbor) or bight which gave us, at high tide, a few square feet of sand-beach between the sea and the bottom of the hill. This was the only landing place. Directly before us rose the perpendicular height of four or five hundred feet". It was these bluffs that the seamen had to traverse to move cowhides between the ship and the shore.

Dana had been a college student studying law in Boston. His eyes had begun to weaken, which was attributed to an attack of the measles. He decided to take some time off, shipping as an ordinary seaman aboard the brig Pilgrim in 1834. He made this choice despite his social and economic status as the grandson of a chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. A replica of the Pilgrim can be seen today at the west basin near the Ocean institute.

He spent two years aboard the Pilgrim, trading with the local ranchos, Indians and Spanish missions between San Diego and San Francisco. On his return to Boston, Dana resumed his studies at Harvard University, received his law degree, and spent a good deal of his life striving to change the laws governing the usage and treatment of ordinary seaman. Many of the laws we have today are either directly or indirectly the result of his work. On his return to Boston, he also wrote his book "Two Years Before the Mast," which was a bestseller in its day and has never been out of print since.

During the Prohibition years, Sidney Woodruff, the developer who built Hollywood, also built a pier in Dana Point, which was then known as Stillwater Bay.  This construction was the beginning of a dream he had to develop the area into a resort town, including what was to be the centerpiece Dana Point Inn at the top of the bluffs overlooking the bay. Unfortunately the stock market crash ended those dreams.  Parts of the development can be seen today both at the top of the bluffs and at the bottom near the Dana Point Youth and Group Facility.  The pier that stands today is not the same pier; however, it is of the same basic design and approximate location of the original pier.

At the top of the bluffs, you will find some rock arches. These arches were the beginning of construction of the Dana Point Inn.  Just below them at the base of the bluff, you will also find a bricked-in arch that was the base of an elevator shaft constructed to take guests from the hotel down to the bay.

Construction of today's harbor began in the early 1960s, with initial completion of the harbor in 1969.

Today, the harbor area is evolving yet again as many areas will be redeveloped in the coming years. More information about the history and future plans for the area can be found at the Dana Point Historical Society, Dana Point Lighthouse Society, and the Dana Point Development Plan.